Colleagues, below you will find a rationale and suggested talking points for supporting Senator Joseph Lieberman's Senate Resolution regarding public access to Congressional Research Service (CRS) materials over other suggestions that seek to resolve this issue. CRS Reports are notable for the high quality of the research they present on critical issues, but their availability is too often restricted to those with insider access or the ability to pay for them through commercial vendors.

The Lieberman resolution would establish the principle that these reports should be made available to the public, except in cases where concerns such as privacy, security, or copyright mitigate against their release.

A separate proposal from Senator Dianne Feinstein calls for the Senate to model its program on an already existing program used by the House. That suggestion, made by Sen. Feinstein in a proposal to the Director of CRS, Daniel Mulhollan, consists of making CRS reports available to senators for inclusion on their official websites. While Feinstein's proposal would certainly improve access to CRS reports, issue briefs, and appropriations information, it is not as strong as the Lieberman resolution. In fact, her proposal leaves access to the whim of individual legislators rather than creating an independent system for guaranteed access by the public.

The Lieberman resolution would require that the Sergeant-At-Arms of the Senate and the Director of CRS make any unclassified or otherwise non-sensitive CRS reports available on a "centralized electronic system, for purposes of access and retrieval by the public," an approach more consistent with those long advocated by the library community.

Summary:

The Lieberman resolution is stronger for these reasons:

• It brings free access to CRS materials directly to the public
• It offers complete coverage, except in cases which raise legitimate concerns such as copyright, security, and confidentiality
• It will provide more timely and up-to-date materials
• It will provide a searchable interface to locate documents by topic

The Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association urges you to contact your senators and urge them to sign on as co-sponsors of Senate Resolution 401, "A resolution to provide Internet access to certain Congressional Research Service publications," or thank them for
co-sponsoring.

Contact information for each Senate office is available from the U.S. Senate website. Or, call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121. A switchboard operator will connect you directly with the Senate office you request.

Thank you,
Kevin McClure
Bill Sleeman

Sample Fax/E-Mail Message

Feel free to personalize this text with your own words. Our message to our representatives is strongest when we share our stories of the importance of government information to our users, and their constituents.

The Honorable ______
(address)
(fax no.)
Dear Senator ______ ,

I am writing to urge you to support Senate Resolution 401, "A resolution to provide Internet access to certain Congressional Research Service publications," sponsored by Senator Lieberman. Among the various proposals to provide access to the reports of the Congressional Research Service (CRS), Senator Lieberman’s resolution strikes the best balance between the need for better public access and legitimate concerns about privacy and copyright.

As a librarian who works with government information, I am familiar with the high quality of the reports published by CRS and the valuable information they provide to my library’s users. However, their patchwork distribution often makes these important resources difficult if not impossible to find. While several online sources have established repositories of publicly available reports, their efforts are no substitute for a comprehensive collection which establishes public access as a matter of policy.

Currently, CRS reports are most readily available to insiders with privileged access, or through private vendors to those who can afford the price tag. The inequity of this distribution policy, which provides a select few with privileged access to publicly funded information laying out congressional thinking on the critical issues of the day, urgently demands reform.

Your leadership in support of the Lieberman resolution will provide more equitable access to these reports for the American public, while taking appropriate steps to address concerns about privacy and copyright. Thank you for your consideration.